Vertical blind



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 H. N. WRIGHT VERTICAL BLIND v,4 Trae/VEP July 22, 1952 Filed May 18. 1950 H. N. WRIGHT VERTICAL BLIND July 22, 1952 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 Filed May 18, 1950 vlarge glass areas.

'bothsides of an opening.

Patented July 22, 1952 .UNITED[ TSTTES PAT-ENT" `OFFICE y, 2,604,159'. I'

VERTICAL BLIND l nenryN. Wright, nye,.N.,Y. v u Application May 1-8, 1950, Serial No. 162,660

My-'invention comprehends 'improvements in blinds' of' the type employingv multiple vertical vanes.v individually suspended from upper axes for horizontalg oscillationy to Aopenr and fclose the blind and--reciprocally"shiftable in the. same plane to extend and collapse the blind-a developmentV in sunsliieldingl designed tov facilitate and compliment contemporary designers extensive useLof A primaryv object of the invention is tov provide a blind with vertical vanes manufactured from any suitable ilexible material, as fabric', and-*which are supported at the top and bottom sothat when once extended theyV -will become temporarily anchored-and spaced' in true vertical parallelism, but which yare'. readily -releasable whendtis desired to collapse them to oneA or Another object of the invention'is the provisionof novel types of holders'forv supporting the .topf'and bottomfedgesf ofthe vanesfand which permit of easy and quickremoval of the'vanes.'

A further object resides in aV jsiinplegdullswivel y attachment of connecting chains and vanehold'ers. l i v Still another object is the facility with which the vane spacing may bevvaried so as to iitlto a nicety any given opening' (permitting the use of smallorlarge vanes atwilll. Y

"An additional :object isy the construction Fand arrangement of parts whichpermit the manufacture of top and bottom elements vin long, continuous lengths which may be vcut off tomakefup blinds of anyV Width, requiring only the addition of special end units which may be easily clipped To the: accomplishment ofthe recited' objects and others subordinate thereto, the preferred embodiment` of the invention resides inthe combination of4 parts andi in their mode of operation as will be hereinafter more fully'ldescribedand embraced Within `the scope of the. appended claims.

In saidzdrawings:l 2 y Figur; illustrates diagrammatically an embodimentof fthe' invention. disposed in a window open- `2 is atransve'rse section along lines .2-.2 of

Fig. y

5:'Claims. (Cl. 16o- 172) Fig. 8 is a perspective of the rotor cord guide,

and

Fig. 9l is a similar view of a modiedform of vane suspension for use with rigidvanes.- l Y 1 In a general sense, the invention V,comprises multiple fabric vanes carried by holders-which are clasped atV the top and bottom'thereof to allow of theiridetachment, as for example, when they arerequired to be laundered. Eachtop holder issuitably supported to slide on a track, and each bottom holder is a substantial replica of the top. holder, with the exception. that it is devoid of. track connections, as no track ist nec,- essary. This omission is compensated forby kthe employment ofv a magnet Which is mounted on the bottom holder oi the outer vane and which. is designed to contact a metallic post or the like and securely` anchor the bank of vanes invadjusted position, although permitting a breaking of the contact when the occasion requires'.

The individual vane holders are preferably,v though'not necessarily, made of laminated plastic and fashioned into a clasp Whichrmay bejfastened to effectively sustain the vanes inset position. And swivelled to the. holders at each terminal are bead chains which not only serve rto transmitI horizontal oscillation to the vanes, but make it possible to regulate and vary the spacing of thefvanes and to manufacturek `theqtop andV bottomelements in continuous-lengths which may be severed at any point to tailor blindsijof any Width. f l 1 Referring more specifically to -thedrawings each of the blinds 5-6 comprises a plurality' of vertical vanes or shutters 1. In turn each-vane consists of an appropriate width of any` suitable iiexi'ble material, as corded'acet'ate faille` 8', with holders or supports 9--IIJ at oppositeyton and bottom looped edges VII--I2. As best seen:in Fig. 4, the top holder 9 is formed from a strip I3 of any desirable material, as laminated plastic, Medially of the top'of the holder it is pierced by an eyelet I4 provided with a vertical extension or shank I5 to which the slidehanger I6 is swivelled at its distal end. The particular form of slide hanger exhibited here comprises' a flat metal top I'I .with lateral oppositely' disposed curved-inwardly bent grooves I8 for engagement With the confronting edges I9 of a standard drapery track 20 which may be fastened 'tov a ceiling or Window head or bracketed from vthe wall. I

At the opposite proximal ends of the holder are a pair of cotter pins 2|-22 which are swivelled vertically between'the Walls of the holder with their eyelet terminals 23 vprojecting outwardly 2,604,159 l f f ends may be readily connected by coupling 28V (Fig. 3).

Towards the inner edge of each vane holder IJ l have formed a longitudinal kerf 29 which is open at one end and closed at the other end. The

kerf virtually separates the holder into upperA and lower parts 3U-3I. part 3U, at the open end f the kerf, carrying a pivoted latch 32. Lowervl part or tongue 3| is adapted to be threaded Its trim, vertical vanes shed dust and remain fresh looking; when they do require cleaning it is a simple matter to whisk them oi their holders and launder them.

I claim:

1. A blind, including in combination, a base, a plurality of vertically disposed vanes individually suspended from,uppenmvertically disposed axes for horizontal oscillationtopenf and? close the vanes, and being reciprocally shift'able'" horizontally to extend and collapse the blind, each vane having upper and lower transversely rigid end supports, the lower end support of an end of one of the vanes carrying a magnet, and a metallic member mounted on the base in the path of g movement'ofthe magnet and engageable therethrough the loop I I of the vane whereupon latch 32 is swung around to loop and engage about the end of the tongue (Figs. 2 and 4). Y

With' the exception of extension I5 and slide hanger I6, as mounted on the top holders, both copy and bottom'vane holders are for all `practical purposes'identical; v steadof clutteringthe floor or window sill with' a track,-`I mount a magnet 33 -on vthe bottom holdery of the outer vane of each bank'of vanes and cooperating with this magnet is a metal post 34xed to the floor,l window sill or similar base and directly in the path of movement of the magnet.- Svo, as may be observed in Fig. 1 of the drawings, with the vanes extended the magnet 33 V-inducesmagnetism with respect to thejpost 34, and thus securely anchors the bank in the position'shown.` Disengagement of the magnet and the post, as when one wishes to collapse the vanes against the wall, is accomplished quite simplyrbyn pulling back the top of the vane so that there .will be wiping motion between the magnet and the post." f l. fr YVane suspension of a sturdier type is disclosed in Figigwhereinfthe track consists of a pair of longitudinal' ribs 35l operating conjunctively with a Yhanger 36 havingtwo anti friction rollerbearings 31 for movement von the track, and a depending shank 38l carrying an eyelet` 39; The eyelet isins'ertible'inslot 40 of vane yIII until it registers with opening 42--then the screw 43ispassed through they'elet and'made fast to the vane.

- AVTwo c'ord'pulls control each bank' of'blinds. Rotor cord 44 angles vanes, and traverse cord 45 draws and opens them (Fig.

In QFig. u8 I have illustrated a bracket 46 provided'at each .endwith a lateral flange 41 which has a-fverti'ca'l'openingv 48 vfor guidingV the rotor cord 44,5and at its outer edge is equipped with a notch 49.' By looping the rotor cord about the flange' and inserting itin the notch, as shown, the blind is prevented from blowing closed.

f- Developedespecially for the popular new pic-l ture windows and window walls, the vertical blind heretofore'described voifers a handsome, exible wayv to control sun-glare andl excessive light without obstructingfoutlook, and an attractive nighttime covering which assures privacy-thus takin'g the place of both cumbersome, hard-to-clean Venetian blinds and expensive dust-collecting draperies. i Y y f vInstead'of horizontal wood'or metal slats, my blind employs clothlvanesl which hang 'verticallyI and rotate in both directions and can be pulled back, like drapery, to'one or both sides vofthe opening. AAside from its appeal to thev esthetic' taste 'and ease of operation, the feature which is appreciated most is that it is so easy to4 care' for.

by for releasably holding the blind extended.

21 lA blind, includingvin combination, a base, a plurality of vertically disposed vanes indivi'dually suspendedVV from upper, verticallydisposed axes `-for horizontal oscillation to openyandf close. thev vanes, and'being reciprocally Ashiftable horizontallyv to 'extend .and collapse theblind, each vane ,having upperI and lower; end supportsv a magnet carried by anddepending from the b,ot,`

tom of the 'lower support of an end of oneof the.

vanes, and a vstationary metallic postmounted on the base and projecting upwardly therefrom and disposed iin the path of movement of the magnet for engagement thereby to hold the kblind,

extended.V i

3. A blind-including anoverhead horizontal track a plurality of vertically-,disposed flexible vanes havingihems across'upperand lower-ends, stiff :strips extending-along upper and lower ,ends of said vanes and each 'havingaslit leading fromone end and spaced from its other end-end fprm-V ing the strip` with a longitudinally extending tongue'free at one end, the tongues of ,said strips passingwthroughy the ,E hems ofvr said- `yanes, ,clips pivotedzto lsaid strips adjacent free ends ofthe tongues f'thereof for swingingzmovement ginto and outfof afposition'inwhich theyengage aboutfree ends of the tongues in straddling relation thereto andjholdv the vanes upon the tongueshangers carried; by theupper strips-and engaged .with the tracks and suspending the vanes fromthe tracks for movement along vthe tracks, and-means for shifting the vanes and their .hangers longitudinally-of the tracks.l y l g LL1A-blind including an overhead ,horizontal track; `a` plurality ofA verticallyfdisposedv vanes, strips `extending along vand engaged with upper andv lowery ends of said vanes, hangers carried by the upper strips midway ends thereof Aand resting upon said track and mountingthe vanes for vmovement* along V:the track to extended? and retracted 'positions and also mounting theyanes for turning movement about. aavertical; axislto opened v:and closed positions, eyelets mounted throughend portions of saidstrips transversely thereof, beaded chains, couplings'having eyes iltting about the chainsbetween -beads thereofiand stems extending Adownwardly from the reyes through openings formed in the strips above the. eyelets, said couplings having lower portions entering the eyelets transversely thereof and formed with enlarged ends disposed' within the eyelets, and means for shifting said chains lon'- length thereof and at their upper ends carrying members slidable along said track and rotatable about the said suspension members and mounting the vanes for movement along the track and also for turning movement about the suspension members, eyelets passing through end portions of said strips, said, strips being formed with openings extending from upper edges of the strips and at their lower ends communicating With the eyelets, beaded chains extending longitudinally of said trackr and spaced from opposite sides thereof, couplings passing vertically through said openings and having eyes at upper ends tting about the chains between beads thereof, lower ends of the couplings extending into the eyelets and formed with enlargements retaining the couplings in engagement with the strips, and means for shifting the chains longitudinally and causing movement of the strips and the vanes about the suspension members to adjusted positions.

HENRY N. WRIGHT.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

